Prayer – Page 3 – Rabbi Jon 's Website and Blog

January 23, 2020

Daf Yomi: Ch. 2 of Berachot Begins

Again, I'm behind in my post though not my studies… The second chapter of the Talmud begins with a discussion of the concept of kavvanah, which means "intention." The specific issue is whether one can fulfill the mitzvah of reciting the Sh'ma by mechanically vocalizing the sounds, or whether kavvanah is required. The Talmud begins by positing: yes. There… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Midrash, Prayer, Study, Talmud, Theology

January 20, 2020

Daf Yomi — End of First Chapter of the Talmud!

I am almost up-to-date in my studies, but a bit behind in posting reflections. The first chapter of Massechet Berachot ends with a discussion of two kinds of things that are linked despite being experienced or named differently. One is the series of persecutions and exiles of the Jews. The other is the names of… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Study, Talmud, Theology, Torah

January 20, 2020

For MLK Day 2020 — Letter From Birmingham Jail

Go to my post from a couple years ago, with links to the text and to a later reading of the letter from King himself. Simply the most important teaching about what it means to be religious that I think I have ever read: https://rabbijon.net/2018/01/15/mlks-letter-from-birmingham-jail/ Continue reading

Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Ethics, Freedom, History, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Leadership, MLK Day, Peace, Prayer, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedek, USA

January 16, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 12

When I was studying Berachot 12, I had a mini-experience that is exactly what Torah study should be. On 12b, Rabbah bar Chinana Sava taught in the name of Rav that anyone who could have prayed for compassion/mercy (rachamim) for another but didn't is called a sinner. I was thinking about this for some reason while I… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Spirituality, Talmud

January 12, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 7

I'm not necessarily going to have something to write about every daf (page), but here is something from a couple days ago. Daf 7 opens with a discussion of God's own prayer. The Talmud says that God prays that God's own mercy will overcome God's anger. It's a fascinating depiction of God — as a being… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Prayer, Spirituality, Talmud, Theology

January 9, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 6

I have to say that I have a bias in my own Talmud study toward passages that seem to be structured a certain way. That seem quilted, where you can make out some kind of logic to the patterning. This page does not have that. It's a skip from one topic to another. There is… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Prayer, Spirituality, Study, Talmud, Theology

January 8, 2020

Daf Yomi — Berachot p. 5

Today I did my skimming while I was listening, at a meeting, to a presentation about "adverse childhood experiences" and their impact on mental and physical well-being throughout life. It was an interesting backdrop to what most of today's page, Berachot 5a-b, are about, which is: suffering. The Talmud starts with a fairly traditional theology… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Current Affairs, Daf Yomi, Prayer, Spirituality, Study, Talmud, Theology

January 7, 2020

Daf Yomi Berachot p. 4

A lot on today's page is familiar, and shows just how much of the general structure of Jewish worship was already set by 500-600 C.E. The page mentions saying Ashrei (mostly Psalm 145) three times a day, praying in a synagogue and not just individually, saying the Sh'ma in a service as well as at… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Books, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Jewish Education, Leadership, Prayer, Study, Talmud

January 6, 2020

Daf Yomi Talmud Cycle Begins

(I actually wrote and FB-posted this yesterday.) Today is the start of a 7 1/2-year worldwide Jewish learning activity called "Daf Yomi" or the "Daily Page." In sync, Jews everywhere of all kinds of backgrounds read and think each weekday about the exact same page of the Babylonian Talmud — alone or in study groups… Continue reading

Bavli Berachot, Calendar, Daf Yomi, Food, Jewish Education, Prayer, Shabbat, Spirituality, Study, Talmud

April 29, 2019

My Letter After Poway

This is the letter I wrote our congregation today. Dear Friends: Once again we are mourning and raging after an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue over the weekend. Lori Gilbert Kaye was a dedicated member of Chabad of Poway, and she was killed as she tried to protect Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who was injured. Almog… Continue reading

Antisemitism, Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Freedom, History, Holocaust, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Islam, Justice, Leadership, Prayer, Shoah, Terrorism, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA, Yom Hashoah

January 15, 2018

MLK’s Letter From Birmingham Jail

"In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society…" Reading Rev. Dr. King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" should be part of our annual recognition of MLK Day. It's one of the most important… Continue reading

Calendar, Community Relations, Current Affairs, Freedom, History, Holidays, Inclusion, Interfaith Dialogue, Justice, Leadership, MLK Day, Peace, Prayer, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Tzedek, USA

January 12, 2018

Why Exodus Is the Most Important Book of All Time

My D’var Torah at Beth Abraham on Shabbat morning, Saturday, January 6, 2018. Today we begin reading the most important book in human history — Sefer Shmot, the book of Exodus. This is the book that transformed what was possible in the world and what was imaginable in the world. You can divide human history… Continue reading

Books, Current Affairs, Ethics, Exodus, Freedom, Leadership, Pesach, Prayer, Revelation, Shabbat, Shmot, Spirituality, Theology, Tikkun Olam, Torah, Tzedakah, Tzedek, Va’era